A Symbolic Victory for Open Office Setups

By Charles S. Clark

April 8, 2014

The General Services Administration has won at least a symbolic victory that should help its push for the "Total Workplace."

That’s the office design—now in place at GSA’s F Street headquarters and recommended to other agencies—aimed at achieving savings and collaboration through desk sharing, telecommuting and mobile devices.

GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini has made no secret of the fact that he embraced the idea after a trip to New York City in 2012, during which he saw the famous “bullpen” office arrangement used by the top aides to then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The downsides to the open office, critics note, are reduced privacy and the distractions of noise. Debate over such issues even entered into the 2013 New York mayoral election, the one that resulted in the swearing in of Democrat Bill de Blasio this January.

After multiple inquiries to City Hall from Government Executive, de Blasio’s busy press team on Tuesday finally reported the new mayor’s plans for his office arrangement: Mayor de Blasio is keeping the bullpen.